In this week's edition of On the Ledge - your Ontario politics podcast:
We said, a few weeks ago, Olivia Chow may be Doug ford's unlikely saviour. Today, we're getting more hints of that.
There have been rumbles for a while and now the Toronto Star is reporting the Ford government is considering plans to upload the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway and could be picking up more of the TTC costs to support public transit in Toronto.
If that's good news for the Ontario PCs, they're happy to see the Marit Stiles led NDP imploding over the Sarah Jama drama. The NDP riding association in Kitchener Center is calling for the Stile's immediate resignation.
The crisis in the middle east is not only affecting the Official Opposition and the business of the day at Queen's Park, it's seeping into the reporting on the story. Rather than informing the situation, reporting is viewed as an exercise in taking sides.
It's all been a major distraction from the Greenbelt scandal and any traction the Opposition had made since Premier Ford walked back the land swap plans. But Sabrina Nanji at the Queen's Park Observer says we should expect that dumpster fire to flare up next week. The Toronto Star is expecting a significant document dump generated during former Steve Clark's tenure in the Housing Ministry.
And if the Greenbelt walk-back helps team Ford's polling, can the same be said for Prime Minister's Trudeau decision to make major changes to his carbon tax scheme? Is it government doing the right thing or is it a demonstration of "people power"?
Finally, just a pro tip for politicians who want to want to get their Question Period clip in the news: You might wanna check what happens when you encourage the Official Opposition to call 1-800- Jagmeet.